The Fed that some librarians* love to hate, John Ashcroft, has been hospitalized with pancreatitis, story here from Reuters News Service . Ashcroft is in intensive care for a case of what doctors call a “severe case of gallstone pancreatitis.”
*thanks for the suggestion pchuck
Re: Ashcroft hospitalized
This post is completely beyond the pale. A distinction needs to be maintained between opposing political positions and figures on the one hand, and making sport with people’s private lives on the other. The vilification and personal attacks against Ashcroft (as best exemplified by the helpful hate-Ashcroft icon that accompanies discussion of the Patriot Act at LISNews) are absolutely hair-raising! Liberalism is lapsing ever more frequently into frank illiberalism.
Shame on you.
I believe that should be “some librarians”
I don’t hate the guy. I like him and agree with him on many of the administration’s policies. He is worlds better than Janet Reno.
Re: Ashcroft hospitalized
What hate ashcroft icon? All I’ve ever seen is his face with the words “the patriot act is watching”. Are there hidden words that I don’t see? Hmm. Maybe I can’t see them because I’m Canadian.
I’ll be honest in saying I can’t speak to the “personal attacks” thing as I don’t do much more than browse what’s on the main page of LISnews about the Patriot Act.
I don’t the problem with the post; I thought the “man has gall” dept thing was amusing but I fully admit to having a twisted and dark sense of humour.
Guess it’s a good thing you live in a country where people are still mostly free to express their opinions, isn’t it?
s/
Re: Ashcroft hospitalized
“Hate Ashcroft icon”?? Whatever do you mean?? Perhaps you are being too sensitive…
Re: Ashcroft hospitalized
Okay, we’ll be sure to amuse ourselves with your health problems.
Re:I believe that should be “some librarians”
I miss Janet Reno. She had a great sense of humor. Can you imagine John Ashcroft going on SNL and dancing to “my sharona”????
Re:I believe that should be “some librarians”
I don’t miss Janet Reno. Although I think the Branch Davidians were a bunch of nuts, what Reno was responsible for in that disaster was terrible. Janet Reno’s record on civil rights was a whole lot worse and she was given a pass by some of the same critics of Ashcroft simply because she was a woman appointed by a Democrat.
I would much rather have Janet Reno dancing around on SNL for 8 years than 8 years in the Department of Justice.
The thing about Ashcroft is that most of those who attack him are just so over the top and silly.
about Janet Reno
I checked out Janet Reno’s record on civil rights, as I always thought that she was a strong supporter. Here’s something from on the issues that elaborates. I suspect you’re talking about the McDuffie incident (down at the bottom of the page). It was indeed a tragedy, but not of Reno’s doing. Somewhere along the line, she was falsely accused, probably by the press.
Re:I believe that should be “some librarians”
On a softer note, after reading these threads, I got a chuckle thinking about a combined Reno/Ashcroft:
Can you imagine the picture generated if Reno/Ashcroft sent in ‘storm troopers’ to remove a banned book from a library? Recall the famous picture. Replace Elian Gonzales with the book, and the Uncle with a Librarian.
Okay, I’m just really out there for a Friday.
Re: Ashcroft hospitalized
If you find out about my health problems (if any), and can be at least as interesting as “the gall of that man”, then go wild. I too have a particularly dark sense of humour, and would probably appreciate it.
That said, nobody here is saying, “thank god, maybe he’ll die.” But it’s not exactly library news either.
Ashcroft
I actually did a search for what he appears to have, and in essence, he is being tormented by an overabundance of bile. I suppose that this does prove that there is cosmic irony after all.
Re:about Janet Reno
I’m so sorry, I was mistaken in that I wrote “civil rights” instead of “civil liberties”. How silly of me to confuse the two.
Actually, I was discussing the Waco incident in 1993 when 76 Branch Davidian members ( including 20 children) were killed by ATF and FBI agents after a fire was set in the compound. Attorney General Reno claimed responsibility for that disaster and the press heaped praise upon her for accepting responsibility. Another Reno approved incident was the raid to retrieve Elian Gonzales to return him back to Cuba. I’m sure reasonable people could differ about returning the kid to a totalitarian hellhole, but certainly the means of achieving this were terrible (the raid by the INS of the residence in Miami).
Selective enforcement of campaign finance laws also isn’t the hallmark of a good tenure as AG.
BTW, that thing you read isn’t the most flattering report.
Re: Ashcroft hospitalized
Well, aren’t you just the little anal retentive.
Look at it this way. In the same way Ashcroft and the ultra-conservatives of his ilk hate the sin but not the sinner, we don’t hate Ashcroft, just everything he stands for.
Then there’s you blatant ignorance of free speech principles. Your ignorance of the concepts of private citizens, public persons, and public officials. Your delusion about the icon being representative of “hate-Ashcroft”. Your habit of attempting to twist the words of people who won’t kiss your self-righteous ass. And the way you shower shit and derision over any anti-government sentiment is reminscent of the way knee-jerk reactionary jews scream “anti-semiticism” over the slightest excuse.
Feel free to whine about how you’re being picked on. You will anyway.
Re: Ashcroft hospitalized
I have complained to LISNews about you. I’m sure it won’t be the first time….
Re:Ashcroft
The moderator finds jokes about people’s medical conditions “funny”?
This is depravity, plain and simple.
I just hope he gets out of the hospital soon
I am a fan neither of Atty General Ashcroft nor of Atty Gen Reno. However I hope all people of good will, especially those of us who abhor his policies will wish him well or pray for his recovery, as your tradition moves you. Although I fail at it frequently, my ideal is to “bless those who curse you.”
I have to reluctantly agree with those folks who questioned the “libraryness” of this news story. Although Atty Gen Ashcroft has not been kind to our profession and has stated that his critics aid our enemies, it’s the policies formulated and actions taken that should be on the “news” pages, IMHO. I think it would have made a perfect journal entry tho.
Re:Ashcroft
Perhaps you are in the wrong milieu. Like, maybe the wrong planet.
Ashcroft
While I disagree with some (many) of his and Bush’s policies; this former radiological/CT technologist has pity for him – this is an extreamly painful condition and should not be made fun of; it could happen to you…….
Bigger Issue Here
Jack I cringed when I read this post. Why? Because it only serves to perpetuate the perception of “knee-jerk conservatives” that I have been trying to debunk since posting here on LISNews.
Complaining about Fang is your prerogative. And I certainly have no reason to excuse his penchant for occasional potty words. That said, I suggest that we leave Blake’s time for handling the technical end of this site.
Complaints to Blake are implicit requests for speech codes. Which you and I should both stand against. Personal attacks notwithstanding. Ignore or respond. But don’t cry foul about a blog bully. It’s certainly not in keeping with our shared conservative ideology.
Re: Ashcroft hospitalized
Fill your boots, my dear. As soon as the press starts reporting on my health problems, amuse yourself however much you wish. I’m sure I’ve heard worse from better.
Oh, hey, I will tell you I’m near sighted and wear glasses. If it’ll make you feel better, go ahead and call me “four eyes”.
s/
Go to the OED: see morbidly funny
Boy, you really are an annoying twit.
I don’t particularly like Fang, but you take the cake.
Unfortunately, I find too many conservatives are like you, and too few are reasonable about their issues.
Yeah, Clinton (and implicitly Reno) weren’t too good, but then again, they weren’t really very Democratic either, which is why he got elected in the first place.
Ahh, for a real democratic system, like the vast majority of democracies have… what a wonderful thing that would be.
— Ender, Duke_of_URL
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